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LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges investors can use to watch the equity markets. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action regarding LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB).

How have hedgies been trading LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 58 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 23% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global had the most valuable position in LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), worth close to $431 million billion, comprising 3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Discovery Capital Management, managed by Rob Citrone, which held a $295 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Dan Loeb’s Third Point and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.

Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Arrowgrass Capital Partners, managed by Nick Niell, established the biggest position in LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB). Arrowgrass Capital Partners had 35 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. also made a $29 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new LYB investors: Douglas Dillard Jr. and Raj D. Venkatesan’s Standard Pacific Capital, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) is an important part of this process.